Monday, November 12, 2012

Winter Shadows (Book Review)

Plot: Two young women in Western Canada, one in 1856 and one
in the present, separated by five generations, communicate through an old diary
and a cherished brooch. Beatrice, a
lovely and, unusually, educated young woman in a rural Canadian town, has
returned from school to find that her father has married a dreadful woman, Ivy,
who not only resents her stepdaughter but is prejudiced against her husband’s
Cree ancestry (this would make more sense if it were the ancestry of the first
wife – Ivy shows her distaste of her mother-in-law’s and stepdaughter’s
heritage but apparently overcame her feelings with regard to her husband; I
suppose because she was desperate to remarry).
Ivy’s seemingly uncouth adult son has settled nearby but Beatrice
prefers the company of the new and more refined minister, Reverend
Dalhousie.

Present-day Cass, younger and less mature than Beatrice, lost
her mother recently, and her father is remarried to an insensitive woman named
Jean with a bratty daughter, Daisy. The
blended family is living in a stone farmhouse that once belonged to officers of
the Hudson’s Bay Company, and was inherited by Cass’ mother.

When Cass finds Beatrice’s star brooch and her diary, the
two girls start catching glimpses of each other across time. As
Beatrice tries to make an important life decision, she is aided by sound advice
from Cass, and, in turn, Cass begins to make an effort to cope with her own difficult family
situation instead of sulking or making trouble.

What I liked: This is a lovely and
subtle book set in what is now Manitoba.
Beatrice is a very appealing character and I enjoyed how the author develops
Duncan Kilgour from overbearing and uncouth stepbrother to a supportive ally
who teases Beatrice. It is clear he has
hidden depth by the kindness he shows to Beatrice’s grandmother, so the reader
likes him long before Beatrice does. In different ways, both Beatrice and Cass, distantly related, come of age through the friendship they establish by Cass' ability to reach back 150 years to her. The Canadian frontier history and description of prejudice shown to those of mixed blood also make this a memorable story. Grade: 4 1/2 stars.

It
is not clear why the two fathers made such poor choices when they remarried but
at least Beatrice’s father realizes his mistake. Somehow the two young women are able to establish
wary but functional relationships with their stepmothers, which is more
realistic than some books with more of a Brady Bunch outcome.

Source: I got this from the library, although I do not recall how I came across it. I am pleased that the Minuteman System is
supporting Tundra Books.

1 comment:

Staircase Wit

The French call it l'esprit d'escalier, "the wit of the staircase," those biting ripostes that are thought of just seconds too late, on the way out of the room - or even, to tell the truth, days later.